Defense begins for woman charged in Oswego traffic deaths

June 25, 2010

Family and friends of an Aurora woman testified today they didn't believe she was drunk the night the Infiniti sedan she was driving veered off a road and struck a utility pole, causing the deaths of five Oswego teens who were among eight passengers in her car.

The testimony came as the defense began presenting its case in the trial in Kendall County of Sandra Vasquez, 26, who is charged with multiple counts of reckless homicide and aggravated drunk driving in connection with the crash in Oswego early in the morning of Feb. 11, 2007.

Anna DeLaCruz, Vasquez's best friend, testified that she spent much of Feb. 10 with the defendant and saw her drink only one beer and one shot of hard liquor in the afternoon, well before the 2:30 a.m. fatal accident.

DeLaCruz said that she and Vasquez had traveled to another relative's home in Montgomery about 11 p.m. to pick up the defendant's younger sister, and discovered a group of drunken teenagers at the home.

Christina Melero, Vasquez's aunt, who had just moved into the home, testified that she had come home from shopping around 1 a.m., found the teenagers partying, and angrily ordered them all to leave.

Defense attorney Kathleen Colton has claimed that Vasquez, who didn't know the teenagers, ages 14 to 17, agreed to give them a ride home. During the ride, the deadly crash occurred on Illinois Highway 31 at River Run Boulevard.

Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis concluded the state's four days of testimony earlier Friday with Dr. Jose Trevino, an emergency room physician at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, stating that Vasquez's blood alcohol level was .124, well over the .08 level at which someone is considered legally drunk in Illinois.

Vasquez is expected to testify next week on her own behalf and Colton has said she will present testimony from an accident reconstruction expert that will counter the claims of the state's expert that the accident was caused by the defendant's action.